‘Influencer’ Swatantra Bhardwaj sent to 14-day judicial custody in Jantar Mantar case

A Delhi court sent self-styled right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to 14-day judicial custody in connection with an assault case filed by a 38-year-old man.

Bharadwaj allegedly beat and injured the man during the students protest led by Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in June.

He was produced through video-conference before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Laler of Patiala House court on Monday.

This comes a day after Bharadwaj was sent to one-day judicial custody in connection with the case on Sunday. Before that, on Saturday, Bhardwaj had been produced at the residence of Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler. The judge had allowed the Delhi Police's plea seeking one-day custodial interrogation of the accused.

Bharadwaj was held in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr on Friday after the CJP held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

On the same day, the Delhi Police added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of a teenage student activist, during the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar in June.

Bharadwaj is also facing a separate case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police action against Bharagwaj followed outrage over a video podcast in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had "cracked the skull" of the minor activist's father during the protest.

He later claimed that he had acted in self-defence. The Delhi Police had earlier said the injuries suffered by the student activist's father were "simple in nature".